SETDAB Lecture Series: Supporting Older Victims of Technology-Facilitated Domestic Abuse- Delivered by Dewis Choice
Wednesday 10 June 2026 9.30am-11.30am via teams. The duration of the session is 2 hours, and will include opportunities for discussion, reflection, and application of learning through real-life case examples.
This seminar focuses on recognising and responding to technology-facilitated domestic abuse in later life, an increasingly prevalent but under-recognised form of harm.
As digital technology becomes embedded in everyday life, it is also being used by perpetrators as a tool for coercion, control, surveillance, and financial exploitation. Older adults may be particularly vulnerable due to lower digital confidence, increased reliance on others for support, and barriers to recognising or reporting abuse. This session aims to deepen understanding of how technology is misused within the context of domestic abuse involving older people, including abuse perpetrated by intimate partners and adult family members.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session, participants will:
- Recognise the signs and indicators of technology-facilitated abuse affecting older individuals, including how it may differ from other forms of abuse.
- Develop an understanding of how coercive control is enacted through digital means, including monitoring, financial abuse, and manipulation of devices and accounts.
- Demonstrate increased confidence in identifying hidden or disguised abuse, particularly where it is framed as ‘help’ or support.
- Apply learning to case study examples to strengthen professional curiosity, safeguarding responses, and risk assessment in cases involving technology.
- Identify practical strategies to support digital safety, cybersecurity, and safety planning with older victims.
About Dewis Choice
Based at the Centre for Age, Gender and Social Justice at Aberystwyth University, the Dewis Choice Initiative has co-produced a grassroots intervention, designed by the community, specifically to support older victim-survivors of domestic abuse perpetrated by a partner, ex-partner, and/or adult family member.
Dewis Choice provides intensive support to individuals aged 60 years and over, enabling them to make informed choices about safety, civil and criminal justice options, and wellbeing in recovery. The initiative takes a rights-based approach, ensuring that no one is discriminated against due to age, gender, sexuality, or disability.
Dewis Choice also leads pioneering research, including the first prospective longitudinal study exploring how older people navigate decision-making in the context of later-life domestic abuse. This research has been awarded a 4* (world-leading) rating by the Research Excellence Framework. Insights from this work, alongside engagement with victim-survivors, families, and practitioners, inform Dewis Choice’s service provision, training, policy development, and knowledge exchange activity.
To attend the session via Microsoft Teams please copy this link and add it to your calendar, so you can access it at the appropriate time:
https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/35814489781797?p=gqsCEVbllPWFk2oDGP